Johnson, LaCava make it official

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With the blessing of his longtime boss Fred Couples, who withdrew this week from the Senior PGA Championship with chronic back problems and skin cancer issues with both of his hands, Joe LaCava has accepted the job as Dustin Johnson’s full-time caddie starting with this week’s Byron Nelson Championship.

“Needless to say, we are thrilled, as Joe has long been one of the most revered caddies in the game,” Johnson’s manager with Hambric Sports Management David Winkle said via an email on Wednesday. “I am confident they will be a great team.”

Johnson split with his caddie Bobby Brown in April and first worked with LaCava, a caddie-yard legend who has spent much of his career on Couples’ bag, at The Players Championship where he tied for 57th place.Brown had been criticized for Johnson’s rules faux pas on the 72nd hole at last year’s PGA Championship and a tee time snafu earlier this year in Los Angeles, although sources close to the situation say the split had nothing to do with either episode and Brown began working for Tour rookie Kyle Stanley last week at Colonial.